Thursday, October 31, 2013

The Best Day {Mrs. Heather’s and Oktoberfest}

After a late night out at the Boo Bash, Kenny and I scrambled around the next morning to get ourselves and both kids up, fed, and dressed. We had planned to be in the car by 9am, but we didn’t leave the house until almost 9:45. Typical these days.

I had invited Bridget and her kids to join us at the pumpkin patch on Tuesday afternoon, but she declined since her family had plans to go to Mrs. Heather’s in Hammond on Saturday. I checked out their website and decided Riley would love going there too. And since we were in the middle of a really nice stretch of weather, that sealed the deal. So that’s where we were headed on Saturday morning.

We had never been to Mrs. Heather’s before, so, even though I saw some pictures online, I didn’t really know what to expect. But it was fantastic. There was SO much to do spread all throughout the farm’s four acres.

There was facepainting. There was a corn maze. There were two slides made out of giant culverts. There were two huge hay piles to jump in. There was a round “cornbox” tub. There were old-fashioned carriages scattered around for photo ops.

There were swings and a zip line made out of old tires. There was a merry-go-round, a see-saw, and a sand pit. There were even two huge “jumping pillows.” The possibilities were endless. Riley simply ran from one thing to another, an expression of pure glee never leaving his face. And Rory seemed to enjoy sitting back and watching all of the action.

Oh, and yes, there were pumpkins. But those really were an afterthought, although I did get some cute pictures of the boys in the pumpkin field, after Rory got past a minor freakout. And, as part of their admission price, each of the boys got to take a pumpkin home. (All adults got in free but no pumpkins for us.)

Up until now I have neglected to mention that we also had unused tickets to Oktoberfest. And Saturday was the last day of the festival. Granted, we wouldn’t have been out much money at all, but Kenny and I both wanted to go.

So, on our drive home from Mrs. Heather’s, with Rory luckily napping, we thought, Why not just go straight there? If we go home, it’s likely we won’t leave again. And there’s beer to be drunk. And German music to be danced to. And bratwurst to be sampled. And buttery, salty, soft pretzels to be savored. To Oktoberfest!

We saw a bunch of our friends out there, including Scott, Jacque, Brouss, Kat, Ryan, Josh, and Amy. Danny and Becky were also there with Hope, who is just two weeks older than Rory. The chicken dance apparently really wore her out because she slept the whole time we were there.

As we were leaving, Riley even agreed to take a picture with two members of the Deutches Haus, all decked out in their lederhosen. The gentleman on the left is actually originally from Munich.

We finally arrived back home a little after 5pm. We got the boys fed, bathed, and into PJs, and they both crashed in no time. Kenny and I actually weren’t too far behind them; the day had caught up with us, too.

Being up so late the night before and doing so much in one day…..let’s face it: it could have been an awful, cringe-worthy, disaster of a day. But it wasn’t. Both kids were such champs, and Kenny and I so enjoyed all four of us being together.

I really do think it was our Best Day. And I’ll remember it for a long time.

Happy Halloween! May everyone have a wonderful, safe, and fun-filled spooky night.